Patrick J. Thomas is a Partner in the Cleveland office of Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP. Mr. Thomas is a member of the Commercial Litigation, Professional Liability/Errors & Omissions, and the Tort & Catastrophic Loss practice sections and is part of the Firm’s Intellectual Property and Lawyers Professional Liability interdisciplinary teams. Mr. Thomas focuses his practice on complex litigation, including business and commercial disputes, construction defect claims, environmental litigation, and intellectual property disputes involving unfair competition, trademark, and copyright infringement, as well as legal malpractice litigation. He has successfully defended clients in significant matters involving municipal infrastructure failures, large-scale construction defect claims, environmental contamination and EPA-related actions, high-value business and investment disputes, and federal intellectual property litigation. Mr. Thomas also represents clients in trademark cancellation and opposition proceedings before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Mr. Thomas is a licensed patent attorney.

Mr. Thomas has substantial experience handling legal malpractice matters arising from a variety of professional liability scenarios. His experience includes matters involving alleged failures to analyze and secure available insurance coverage in underlying litigation, deficiencies in trial preparation and litigation strategy, conflicts of interest arising from dual representation, and fee-related disputes in which legal malpractice claims were asserted defensively. These matters have involved complex issues of causation, damages, professional responsibility, and insurance coverage, and have included claims against attorneys and related third parties.

Mr. Thomas has represented a diverse range of clients, including insurance companies, Fortune 500 corporations, small and mid-sized businesses, and individuals across a variety of industries, including construction, manufacturing, and commercial enterprises. He regularly advises clients and in-house counsel on risk assessment, litigation strategy, and dispute resolution. Mr. Thomas has represented clients in many jurisdictions, including Ohio, New York, Illinois, Georgia, California, and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Mr. Thomas has earned his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Denison University. Prior to entering private practice, he served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in the Major Trial Division of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, where he acted as first chair in more than 90 jury trials involving serious felony offenses, including homicides and sex crimes. Earlier in his career, Mr. Thomas worked as a research scientist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where he designed, cloned, and expressed a recombinant human nervous system enzyme for purposes of assessing enzyme kinetics. His scientific training and attention to detail continue to inform his approach to complex litigation.